-- The UN General Assembly has passed a resolution that affirms Ukraine's territorial integrity.
-- The IMF has announced "a staff-level agreement" with Kyiv on assistance of $14 billion-$18 billion in conjunction with a reform program that will "unlock" up to $27 billion over the next two years, pending final approval next month. Tthe U.S. Congress has also passed an aid bill for Ukraine.
-- Ex-PM Yulia Tymoshenko has announced plans to run for president.
-- Members of the Right Sector have been holding a demonstration outside the Ukrainian parliament building to vent their anger at the killing of prominent member Oleksander Muzychkoearlier in the week.
-- Six Ukrainian military officers detained by pro-Russian troops in Crimea have been released, including Colonel Yuliy Mamchur, but five others are still being held captive.
-- Anonymous sources quoted by CNN say U.S. intelligence "concludes it is more likely than previously thought that Russian forces will enter eastern Ukraine."
-- U.S. President Barack Obama, in the keynote speech of his visit to Europe, chided Russia for its use of "brute force" in Ukraine and vowed that a determined alliance of the United States and Europe will prevail over time.
*NOTE: Times are stated according to local time in Kyiv
Under international humanitarian law, an occupying power has an obligation to restore and ensure public order and safety as far as possible while respecting, unless absolutely prevented from doing so, the occupied country’s laws in force.
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier is due to visit Ukraine on March 22 for talks on the ongoing crisis over Russia's annexation of Crimea. A ministry spokesman said Steinmeier would be seeking "a first-hand assessment of the situation from the new political leadership." He is due to meet Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk and acting President Oleksandr Turchynov and then travel to Donetsk in the east to meet the local governor and other officials. Spokesman Martin Schaefer said Steinmeier would urge the new government to cater to the interests of its ethnic Russian minority, with the aim of showing "that we desire the new government and new leadership pursue policies for all Ukrainians." Earlier this week, Germany suspended a military deal with Russia worth 100 million euros in response to Moscow’s actions.
13:1721.3.2014
Great map from our newsroom highlighting Russian ethnic and linguistic ties among Russia's neighbors.
13:2021.3.2014
In Kyiv, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says he came with a "heavy heart." These are "some of the most dramatic and difficult times in the history of Ukraine," he says, stressing his concerns about tensions within Ukraine and between Kyiv and Moscow. Acting Ukrainian President Oleksandr Turchynov thanks Ban for visiting Ukraine in "those difficult and dramatic times." Turchynov says Ukraine will never accept the occupation of Crimea and will do its best to return Crimea to Ukrainian sovereignty.
13:2321.3.2014
The Russian Embassy in London tells Britain to "mind its language" following this strong-worded tweet from the British Embassy in Moscow.
As is known, the British sense of style doomed Sir Oswald Mosley’s guys. Does the same sense put up with the sight of Svoboda thugs, armed with baseball bats, roughing up Ukrainian TV Channel One head Panteleymonov and others who disagree with them? We have not seen London’s reaction to that.
Russian armed forces installed pro-Russian puppet administration and rail-roaded through referendum vote illegal. #Crimea#Ukraine
Ban Ki-moon says he is encouraged to see signs of greater inclusion in Ukraine and praises the start of a planned UN rights monitoring mission in Ukraine.
Ban Ki-moon says in Kyiv that "the world is watching and history will judge us."
13:3321.3.2014
Ban adds that Ukraine and Russia "should sit down together and engage in direct and constructive dialogue." He says he has urged Putin and Turchynov to do so.
